


Ron Weasley never thought he'd cry over a cat but here he is

by weasleyred



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Crookshanks dies, F/M, I cry but here we go, I just wanted to write something about Ron and Crookshanks, Original Character Death(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-12-30 11:53:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18314780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weasleyred/pseuds/weasleyred
Summary: No one really knew how old Crookshank's was since the shop Hermione bought found him when he was already an adult. Nineteen years after Hermione purchased him he reached the end of his life and to everyone's surprise, it was Ron who took it the hardest.





	Ron Weasley never thought he'd cry over a cat but here he is

**Author's Note:**

> I quite honestly just wanted to write something about Ron and Crookshanks since I love the idea of Ron being very fond of the cat after the third book. Being the person he is, however, he never really showed it to anyone. This is just a silly little fanfiction I wrote when I was feeling sad about the prospect of my own cat dying. 
> 
> ... Emil, the author

The second Hermione entered their house after an exhausting day at work, she knew something was wrong. There were three main things who pointed at this. Firstly, she saw a pair of shoes and a coat she knew belonged to Harry. Harry visiting was not unusual, but since she knew that it was his and Draco's anniversary she thought that he would want to spend it with his boyfriend. He abandoning Draco on this day surely was a bad sign  The second thing was that Crookshanks had not strutted toward her the moment she closed the door, something that cat always did when she came home. The third and most prominent sign was that her husband was wailing uncontrollably in the kitchen. This was very alarming considering how Ron barely ever cried. Having grown up with five brother's seemed to have toughened him up a bit (or weakened him, in Hermione's personal opinion). The only times she had seen him cry was when Rose was born, when Fred died and at Fred's funeral. Not bothering to take off her shoes she ran towards the sound of the wailing. 

"Ron? Ron? What's wrong?" she found her husband in one of their kitchens chairs, his face buried in his arms as he lay over their table. Harry was on the chair next to him and was awkwardly patting his best friend's back, looking relieved that Hermione was home. She turned to Harry since Ron seemed in no state to talk. "What happened Harry?"

"Er ... Perhaps you want to sit down," he said and blinked away his own tears. He waited until she was seated and took a deep, unsteady breath. "Well you see, Ron was in the garden chasing away gnome's or something. And ... And he found Crookshanks. In the flowerbed. And Crookshanks was dead. He called me in panic and I came straight away!"

Hermione could not help but let out a sigh of relief. She was, of course, sad that her beloved cat was dead, but the way Ron was acting, she had been convinced that something dreadful had happened. Like Molly, or Arthur, or any in the Weasley family dying. "Oh, Ron, don't cry. Crookshanks was ill, we knew he would pass away soon. The lady at Magical Menagerie told us so. Besides, he was almost entirely deaf and blind on one eye, I'm sure it must be nice for him to finally move on."

Ron continued on sobbing uncontrollably but looked up at his wife with tears and snot running down his face. "B-but he's f-family! I w-wouldn't want m-mum to p-pass away just because s-she's a bit deaf!" he wailed, almost not coherent through the sobs. She glanced at Harry, who seemed to hold back a smile. "B-besides, wha-what will R-Rosie s-say? She lo-loved him!" 

"Oh, Ron," she reached a hand out and stroked his wet cheek, trying her best to avoid the snot dribbling down his face. "I understand that you're upset. I am too, he's been with me for so long. But animals die, and so do humans, and we just have to accept it. Crookshanks wouldn't want you to be upset; that's probably why he hid in the flower bed. And don't worry about Rosie, she'll understand. I know she's only two but she's a smart girl. We can get a new cat if she misses him terribly."

At her last words, Ron looked horrified and actually ceased to cry. He glared at her and then at Harry for support. "A new cat? No cat can replace Crookshanks! How - how can you disrespect his memory by even  _considering_ buying a new cat?" Harry could not help it and burst out laughing. Hermione could not stop a few giggles to escape either and Ron looked affronted at the two of them. "What? Why are you laughing - I'm crying my eyes out here over  _your_ cat and you're taking the mickey out of me!"

"Sorry," Harry managed to bluster and tried to keep a straight face. "It's just funny to see you so upset over Crookshanks. You never seemed to care about him, that's all. In our third year, you were set on getting rid of him."

Ron sighed and rubbed his eyes. He seemed unable to keep a straight face either. "Well, he grew on me, that's all. When Hermione had to leave early for work he would always cuddle with me until Rosie woke up. And when Rosie was still in a pram he'd follow us when we went on walks. And when Rosie was asleep and I alone he'd follow me around, sit next to me when I at, sitting on my lap as I watched the Tilivision. I couldn't help liking him, you know."

Hermione leaned in and planted a soft kiss on his lips. Trying hard to tell herself that the wetness was tears, and not snot, she said: "It's really rather sweet. No wonder I married you, I don't think I'd be able to find a man who'd cry like a baby mandrake when my cat passed away." 

Ron smiled weakly and Harry looked both relieved that the crying had stopped, and a bit amused. As Hermione stood up to make a pot of tea and go check on Rosie (who was taking a nap, thank Merlin that she was a heavy sleeper) he stood up and clapped Ron on the back. Harry had left Draco just as they were deciding what restaurant they wanted to go to later that evening, and although he understood that Ron was in greater need than himself, he had still ben disappointed. Harry promised to make it up to him.

"Look, mate, I need to get back to Draco before he starts thinking I ditched on him. See you later, yeah?"


End file.
